Youth
by EGB Fan
Summary: Vlad is hanging around Amity Park again, doing what he does and trying to discover Danny's biggest weakness. But of course, what is the biggest weakness of any fourteenyearold boy? DS
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: _Danny Phantom _(c) Butch Hartman

_Danny Phantom: _**Youth**

Part 1 

"I'm going ghost!"

Danny Fenton jumped up from his seat at the picnic table, ducked behind the nearest tree and re-emerged moments later as Danny Phantom. His friends, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, watched passively from the table.

"Do you think anyone noticed that?" asked Tucker.

"Doubt it," Sam said dismissively. "I think they're all too distracted with Tweetie-Pie up there."

Tucker's eyes moved upwards, and he shrieked in alarm when the giant green falcon hovering above his head suddenly breathed a jet of equally green fire at him. Sam ducked under the table and Tucker shielded himself behind his lunch tray, spilling the remains of his food onto the ground.

"Eww, Tucker!" protested Sam, as a half-eaten piece of salami landed on her knee.

Tucker was a bit too distracted to apologise. Even as he cowered behind his lunch tray he realised that it would provide scant protection against the ectoplasmic flame heading straight for him. Fortunately Danny seemed to realise this too. Hovering some distance away from his friends, he shot a jet of his own ectoplasm from his right hand, diverting the falcon's flames.

Enraged, the falcon turned its glowing red eyes onto Danny and opened its beak wide. Danny put out a hand and created a large green shield, which resisted the flame. _Why is this kind of stuff always green?_ he wondered, as he whipped out his Fenton Thermos, preparing to trap the falcon. However he was distracted quite considerably when he suddenly felt the familiar burning pain of ectoplasmic energy on his back, and was thrown onto the roof of Casper High. He was dimly aware of Sam shouting his name as he hit the hard surface of the roof.

The shock of the impact forced Danny back into his human form. He sat up, rubbing the back of his head, and looked around for his attacker. He didn't have long to wait; the menacing form of Vlad Plasmius, the only other ghost/human hybrid in existence, appeared at the edge of the roof, rising slowly into view.

"Plasmius!" Danny said accusingly.

"Hello, Daniel," Vlad Plasmius smiled sinisterly. "Your command of your powers is improving, I see."

"Did you send that big green bird to test me or something?"

"Why yes, I did."

"Dude, listen, I have enough ghosts to deal with as it is," Danny said testily. "Like, yesterday, this ghost gym teacher came flying out of my dad's Ghost Portal and started making everybody in Amity Park do push-ups all day. I didn't get to finish my math assignment and I've got a detention today!"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Vlad said insincerely.

"Yeah, well." Feeling fine now, Danny got to his feet. "I don't have time for you today, so I'll just - "

Vlad's blank expression broke into a sinister grin, and suddenly three perfect replicas of him appeared. Danny stuck out his bottom lip. He had been trying to do that trick for months, but for Vlad it didn't seem to take any effort at all. The guy wasn't even moving!

"Vlad?" ventured Danny, as the Plasmius replicas surrounded him. "Just, you know, out of interest… how long did it take you to learn to do that?"

"Oh, only a couple of years," Vlad replied casually.

"Years? Ah man!"

Suddenly the falcon swooped into view, and Danny's mouth dropped open. During his banter with Vlad, he had forgotten all about it. He watched as the great bird soared above his head, and Danny could just make out a flailing pair of legs in its talons.

"HEEEELP!" a familiar voice screamed. "Oh, _saaaave_ me, Inviso-Bill!"

"Paulina!" gasped Danny.

Vlad and his duplicates all cocked an eyebrow. "Inviso-Bill?" smirked the original.

Danny didn't even try to think of a smart answer. He was too concerned with rescuing the owner of that voice. "I'm going ghost!" he announced, which he duly did, and then shot into the air after the falcon. He felt Vlad's eyes on him, and vaguely wondered why his nemesis had let him go so easily.

"Put her down, bird brain!" yelled Danny, shooting ectoplasm from his fingers. It clipped the bird's wing, causing it to flail slightly, but it kept on flying. Paulina screamed pathetically as she was carried further and further away from Casper High. Danny kept following until he was close behind the falcon. He then grabbed an oversized tail feather and pulled until it came loose.

The falcon screeched in protest, losing its grip on Paulina. "EEEEEEEEEEK!" she cried, as she began to plummet towards the earth. Danny swept down after her like lightning, catching her in his arms. Paulina just lay there stunned for a moment before looking admiringly into Danny's eyes.

"Ooh, Inviso-Bill, you saved me!" she gushed, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Yeah, well, we're not out of the woods yet," Danny said gravely, shifting his flight path continually from left to right as the falcon shot its jets of angry green fire at him. "Wait here for me, ok?" and he dispatched his load on the ground. They had reached the park by this time, and Paulina sat down on a convenient bench to watch the rest of the fight, her eyes half-closed in admiration.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size, huh?" Danny rose up into the air to meet the falcon. The bird hovered in front of him, its eyes narrowing malevolently. "Bring it!" challenged Danny.

The falcon shot lightning from its eyes, which took Danny by surprise and sent him slamming against a tree. _Oh man,_ he thought, as he picked himself up. _So much for trying to impress Paulina. I'd better just put him straight in the Fenton Thermos._

Danny whipped out his thermos and pulled off the lid. He then flew into the air and pointed the thermos at the falcon, which was preparing for a second assault. A jet of green energy shot from the thermos, and the falcon screeched in surprise. It was an average-sized thermos and a giant falcon, but the bird shrunk rapidly as the force pulled it inside the strange device. Danny then shut the lid, smiled triumphantly and drifted to the ground at a leisurely pace.

Paulina was at his side in moments, jumping up and down and clapping her hands. "That was amazing, Inviso-Bill!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, well… all in a day's work," blushed Danny.

"You're a real hero," Paulina went on, lowering her voice seductively. She lifted her right hand and walked two fingers through his hair.

"Oh, well, gee, I… um…" Danny shook his head as though to clear it, trying desperately not to let her distract him. "Look, you'd better let me get you back to school, Paulina. Um, I mean… Miss," he finished weakly.

"I don't want to go back there," Paulina stated flatly. "They won't miss me. They probably think I was killed by the big bird."

Danny blinked. "Well, don't you want to go back and let them know you're ok?"

"Not really. Wouldn't you rather stay here and" - she grabbed his arm, leaning in close to his face - "make out?"

"Make out?" echoed Danny, his voice rising to an embarrassing falsetto. "I, um, well… I wouldn't want to get you into trouble…"

"I don't mind trouble."

Danny sighed. If he stayed with Paulina he risked doubling his detention. It was a tough call, but he thought of his parents. They had threatened to ground him severely if he got into any more trouble at school.

"Look," he said. "Wouldn't you like to fly again? And this time there won't be a giant bird trying to blast us out of the sky."

"Oh, _yes_!" squealed Paulina, her face lighting up.

"Great," said Danny, relieved, and he put his arm around her shoulders. _Oh, wow!_ he thought. "Now, hold onto me." _Man, how awesome is this?_

Paulina slipped an arm around his waist. "Like this?" she asked playfully.

Danny tried to say "Yes", but all he could manage was a small squeak. He then tightened his grip on her shoulder and rose effortlessly into the air.

"This is so romantic," said Paulina, when they had been in the air for barely a minute. "What else can you do, Inviso-Bill?"

"Oh… lots of things," Danny said evasively.

"I'd love for you to show me," Paulina went on. "Do you have any plans for three o'clock? I could meet you back here after school."

"Oh, well, actually I have a det… um… a battle against an evil, um, ghost… gorilla who's trying to take over the world," faltered Danny.

"Oh no!"

"Don't worry – I ain't afraid o' no gorilla. But I'm all yours at four," he couldn't help adding.

"Ooh, goody," purred Paulina, as Danny landed her gently by the lockers in one of the many halls at Casper High. "I'll see you then. And good luck with the gorilla!" she added, waving as he became incorporeal and shot dramatically through the ceiling.

x x x

"I don't _enjoy_ giving you detention, Fenton."

"No sir, Mr. Lancer, of course not," Danny agreed robotically.

"Perhaps you think I'm picking on you," Lancer went on. He was pacing up and down in front of Danny's desk while the boy tried to concentrate on completing his maths assignment.

"Well," said Danny, avoiding Lancer's eye, "now that you mention it, Mr. Lancer, it _did_ strike me as odd that you didn't give Dash and Kwan detention even though they didn't finish their assignments either."

Lancer frowned. "They have football practice."

"Right," Danny sighed resignedly.

"And anyway," said Lancer, "this is the fifth assignment in a row you have failed to complete on time, and without so much as an excuse." Lancer stopped pacing, and noticed that Danny seemed to be looking at the clock. "Are you in a hurry, Fenton?" the teacher asked disapprovingly.

"Oh, well," faltered Danny. "I did make plans for after the detention, yes."

Lancer glanced at his watch. It was exactly one minute to four. "Have you finished your assignment?" he asked.

"Almost," said Danny, frantically scribbling down the answer to the penultimate equation on his worksheet.

It was one minute past four when Mr. Lancer let him go, and Danny began to panic that Paulina would get bored waiting for him and leave. He ran into the boys' locker room, transformed into Danny Phantom and then shot through the school roof, heading towards the park at lightning speed. He arrived in a couple of minutes, extremely out of breath, and found Paulina waiting for him under the tree he had been thrown against that lunchtime.

"Ooh, Inviso-Bill, there you are!" she exclaimed delightedly.

"Yeah, hi, here I am," panted Danny, flashing what he hoped was a suave smile. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Only a couple of minutes."

"Oh. I'm sorry I'm late."

"Did the gorilla keep you?"

"Gorilla?" queried Danny, and then he remembered. "Oh! Oh, yeah, the gorilla. Yes, I was fighting the gorilla for longer than anticipated. Nasty things, ghost gorillas. So… whadda you wanna do now?"

Paulina grabbed onto his arm and said, "I'd like to fly again, Inviso-Bill! Can you take me somewhere really romantic?"

"Romantic?" echoed Danny. "Um, well, gee, I don't know. Do you mean like on top of a building or something?"

"Oh, _yes_!" Paulina squealed delightedly. "Somewhere high up in the air where no one can get to us! And then you can show me some more of your ghost powers."

"Um, ok," Danny smiled awkwardly, slipping an arm around her shoulders for the second time that day. "Hold - "

"Hold on tight – I know," Paulina smiled coyly.

He ended up taking her to the top of the water tower. Danny didn't think this location was anything particularly special, but Paulina seemed impressed.

"Wow! You can see the whole city from up here!" she marvelled.

"Yeah, well." Danny had absolutely no idea what to say. He was distracted with trying not to hyperventilate, even in spite of being clinically dead.

"It was very trusting of me to let you bring me up here," Paulina went on. "Anything could happen to a girl."

Danny, avoiding her gaze, opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"You're very quiet, Inviso-Bill."

"Oh, well." Danny was able to speak at last. "I was just, um, admiring the view."

"Can you really go invisible?" asked Paulina.

"What?" The question took him by surprise.

"Can you really go invisible?"

"Oh, well, yes," said Danny. "If… if you want me to."

Paulina nodded eagerly, so Danny concentrated on making himself invisible. He also went incorporeal, and sank down into the water tower. He then floated slowly up behind Paulina, feeling a little more confident now that she couldn't see him, and said, "You're right – this _was_ trusting of you. I could just leave you up here."

Paulina turned round instinctively. "I guess you could," she said.

Danny, still invisible, moved round to her left ear and continued, "Or I could whisk you away somewhere, where nobody would ever find you."

"Mmm, yeah," crooned Paulina, looking vainly around her, trying to keep track of him. "In fact I guess you could say I'm at your mercy."

She twisted round at the waist, and was faintly surprised to see Danny hovering a few inches above her head. He floated gracefully down and sat beside her, desperately trying to think of more ways to impress her. However his train of thought was cut off as she grabbed hold of his jumpsuit and asked throatily, "What else can you do?"

"Oh, well," faltered Danny. "I can shoot ectoplasm from my hands, and I can make people and things incorporeal and carry them through walls, and I can - "

He stopped talking when he suddenly found himself unable to move his lips. It took him a moment to realise that this was because Paulina was kissing him. He was so shocked that he couldn't even enjoy it.

"I've never kissed a ghost before," Paulina confessed, a little shyly, as she pulled away.

"Oh," said Danny. "Well… I never would have guessed."

Paulina giggled. "Really? You don't think I could use a little more practice?"

"Oh, well." Danny sidled closer to her. He couldn't believe his luck! "Maybe just a _little_ more."

x x x

It was almost seven o'clock when Danny strolled through his front door looking extremely pleased with himself. However his self-satisfied smile soon vanished when the imposing form of his father, Jack Fenton, appeared in front of him and demanded, "Danny, didn't I tell you to come straight home after your detention?"

"Um… I don't think so," said Danny.

"Oh." Jack's angry expression dissipated. "Well, that's no excuse. You should have been here. We have a dinner guest," he added brightly.

"We do?"

"Yes, we do." Jack stepped aside to reveal his wife Maddie, arms folded and face like thunder, glaring at Vlad Masters. "It's my old college buddy Vlad!" and Jack took Vlad into a crushing one-armed embrace.

Danny scowled. "I know who he is, Dad. It wasn't so long ago we met him in Wisconsin." It was even less long ago that Vlad had lured Danny and Maddie to the woods and tried simultaneously to destroy Danny and seduce his mother. But Jack didn't know about that.

"Well, good," Jack said brightly. "Jazz! Jazz, where are you?"

Danny's older sister appeared at the top of the stairs. "What is it, Dad?" she demanded. "I'm trying to do my homework. You're supposed to be a role model for me, you know, _and_ Danny. How can you expect Danny to get back on track with his schoolwork if he witnesses _you_ interrupting _me_ doing _mine_?"

"No time for that now, Jasmine," Jack said briskly. "Danny's home, so I want you to get everybody's dinner out of the Fenton Pressure Cooker. Danny, go and set the table."

Danny and Jazz went into the kitchen and set about their assigned tasks.

"What's he doing here?" asked the former.

"Having dinner with us," said Jazz.

"But why? I thought we hated him."

"Yeah, well, you know what Dad's like. He thinks he and Vlad are best friends."

"But Vlad wants to get it on with Mom."

"I know, but our father is blind to such things. He's so caught up in his own obsessive-compulsive behaviour that he fails to notice what's going on around him."

All through dinner Danny could feel Vlad's eyes on him. He avoided the older man's gaze until halfway through dessert, at which point he felt compelled to look up and glare at the guest. Maddie was obviously feeling uncomfortable, and Jazz seemed to have noticed the atmosphere. Jack, on the other hand, was his usual talkative self.

"I spent the day perfecting the Fenton Flamethrower!" he exclaimed. "It's just like a regular flamethrower, only it's deadly to ghosts!"

"Fascinating," Vlad said dryly. "And how was your day, Maddie?"

"Fine," Maddie replied coldly.

"Good. And what about you, Jasmine? Danny? How was school? Did anything interesting happen?"

Danny frowned. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"That's right," agreed Jazz. "Just another ghost attack. It was a giant bird this time. I swear, that school gets _at least_ one ghost attack a week! Usually more!"

"What?" exclaimed Jack. "And no one called me? Why don't people realise that they'd be safe from ghosts if they'd just let me know when one turns up?"

"It might be less effort on everybody's part," Vlad said coolly, "if you were to just dismantle your Ghost Portal, Jack. I think we can safely assume that your basement is the sole reason for their being here."

Jack scowled, and rose to his feet. "Never!" he declared dramatically.

Vlad looked at Jazz. "Any sign of the ghost boy?"

"What? Here? Now?" Jazz reacted, in panicked tones. "No, no, of course not!"

"I mean," said Vlad, his face betraying nothing, "at school."

"Oh." Jazz relaxed. "Oh, yeah. Y'know, Dad, you shouldn't give, um, Inviso-Bill such a hard time. He really helped us out at school today."

"Nonsense, Jasmine!" retorted Jack. "He's a ghost! He must be feared!"

"Is everyone done eating?" Danny asked brightly, jumping to his feet. "Yes? Good. Then I'll just go do the dishes."

"Oh, thank you, Danny," smiled Maddie.

"I'll dry," offered Vlad.

He followed Danny over to the sink, and made a show of humming contentedly as his young host thrust wet plates and cutlery into his hands. Jack, Maddie and Jazz made their way from the kitchen at a leisurely pace, leaving Danny and Vlad alone.

"Something you wanna say to me, Masters?" Danny asked coldly.

"Indeed," said Vlad. "I wondered how you got on with the bird."

"I sucked it into the Fenton Thermos," Danny said dismissively. "It's in the Ghost Zone."

"Very good. You are growing more powerful. I still have twenty years on you, but you're a fast learner. However." He reached out suddenly and grabbed Danny's arm, rolling up the sleeve of his t-shirt. "This looks like a nasty bruise."

"I crashed into a tree," said Danny. "Don't touch me," and he snatched his arm away.

"Why did you crash into a tree?"

"I guess I dropped my guard for a moment."

"Why?"

"Jeez, what's with all the questions?" Danny expostulated suddenly. "Are you trying to, like, find out my big weakness or something? Is that why you're in my house? Like I'm just gonna tell you!"

"Fair point," Vlad smiled sinisterly. "I'll just have to keep on watching you."

Vlad finally left at around nine o'clock. Danny was concerned about what his arch-nemesis was up to, and wanted very much to consult with Tucker and Sam about it. However he didn't want to risk being overheard on the phone, and he knew there was no point in inviting his friends over because their parents wouldn't let them go so late. He would just have to wait for school the next day.

Danny went to bed that night feeling uneasy. However his troubled mind relaxed when he remembered his afternoon with Paulina, and he fell into a peaceful sleep.

x x x

"Hey Sam, hey Tucker," Danny greeted his friends when he met them on the quad outside Casper High. "Listen, you will never guess who was in my house last - "

"Danny!" Sam interrupted. "What the hell is going on? Why is Paulina going around telling everybody that she made out with Inviso-Bill last night?"

Danny blushed. "Oh, well, I…"

"Hey, way to go, Danny," Tucker said smilingly.

"So it's _true_?" shrieked Sam. "Aw man! I hoped she was just making it up to get attention or something."

"Why?" asked Danny.

"Why?" echoed Sam. "WHY? Well because… because… because I expected more from you, Danny!"

"What do you mean?"

"I _mean_ that Paulina doesn't know who Inviso-Bill _is_! He's dead as far as she knows. Not to be rude or anything, but she probably wouldn't have done it if she knew it was you. It's deceptive, Danny!"

Danny blinked. "Do you care?" he asked.

Sam looked at the floor. "No, not really."

"Well then…

"But I thought _you_ might." She jabbed at a finger at his chest. "I never thought you'd take advantage of a girl like that, Danny. I thought you were a nice guy!"

"I _am_ a nice guy!"

"Well you got a funny way of showing it!" Sam maintained her frown of disapproval for several seconds before it finally wavered and she had to drop her gaze. "I'm going to the bathroom. I'll catch you later, guys."

Tucker and Danny watched her go, the former shaking his head indulgently while the latter just looked bewildered.

"Women," remarked Tucker.

"I don't understand, Tuck," said Danny, his brow furrowed with genuine concern. "Am I really doing the wrong thing?"

"Well," mused Tucker, "I guess that depends on which way you look at it. On the one hand, Sam has a point about you deceiving Paulina and taking advantage of her. But on the other hand… how else are you gonna get it on with a hottie like her?"

Danny didn't know what to say.

"Well," said Tucker, "you just do what you feel is best. Now, what's all this about someone in your house last night?"

"What?" Danny responded. "Oh, yeah, that. It was Vlad."

"Vlad?" echoed Tucker. "No way!"

"Way. I think he's up to something."

"Gotta be. What are you gonna do?"

"What _can_ I do?"

Tucker had no answer. They stood in silence for a few moments, and then the bell rang.

"We shall resume this discussion at recess," Tucker said officiously, and then he and Danny went into school.

x x x

Sam deliberately sat with her back to Danny during Mr. Lancer's English lesson, while Danny and Tucker lay low at the far end of the room, where they hoped not to be spotted. The lesson was on Emily Brontë's _Wuthering Heights_, and neither of them had so much as opened the book.

"Mr. Baxter." Lancer's gaze fell upon Dash, the blond pretty boy who happened to be quarterback of the school football team. "What did _you_ think of the book?"

"I didn't have time to read it," said Dash. "Football practice."

Lancer frowned. "That's your excuse for everything."

"Perhaps Dash has realised that academic ability is unnecessary to someone of his sporting talents," ventured Sam; "since our society so favours male aggression in the form of competitive ball games that he can use his party tricks with a football to get by in life."

"We are supposed to be talking about _Wuthering Heights_!" bristled Mr. Lancer. "Did any of you people actually read the book?"

"I did," said Sam.

Lancer's frowned deepened. "Well, Samantha, what did you think of it?"

"I think the message was: don't get involved with people who are all wrong for you."

Tucker glanced at Danny, who seemed unmoved. Tucker reached over with his foot and nudged Danny's ankle.

"All right, all right, I got it!" hissed Danny.

Lancer was too busy concentrating on Sam to notice. "Is that it?" he asked.

"No," said Sam. "It also seemed to be saying, don't let guys mess you around. Don't mess girls around if you _are_ a guy!" She rose to her feet, the pitch of her voice rising with her body as she went on, "Don't go chasing after pipe dreams and expect the love of your life to be waiting for you when you come back!"

Lancer cocked an eyebrow. "Is there something the matter with you, Samantha?"

Sam shook her head, and sunk back into her seat. "No, sir, I'm fine."

"Well then, perhaps you can explain to the rest of the class what they might have learnt if they had bothered to read the - "

"Actually, Mr. Lancer, do you think I could go to the bathroom?"

Lancer sighed deeply. "Can't you wait?"

"Not really," Sam said apologetically. "You see, I've got these cramps, and - "

"Oh, all right, off you go," Mr. Lancer interrupted hastily.

Sam stood up and walked from the room, not looking at Danny or Paulina, and trying to disguise the fact that she was blinking back tears.

"All right, the rest of you," Mr. Lancer went on, in tones of boredom and exaggerated patience. "_Wuthering Heights_ is the story of Heathcliff and Kathy, who grow up together on the Yorkshire moors in the north of England…"

While Danny's common sense told him he should be listening to this, his brain absolutely refused to take in any of the information rolling off Lancer's tongue. Never mind that it was all utterly dull – Danny had been worrying about Vlad all morning, and now he had Sam's harsh words about Paulina running laps inside his head. He even suspected that he was beginning to feel a little bit guilty about deceiving Paulina. It hadn't occurred to him that he _was_ deceiving her, but now that he thought about it, maybe Sam had a point. He cut a glance at the door from which Sam had just left. _Hope those cramps aren't bothering her too much_.

His thoughts were cut off abruptly when Danny suddenly saw his own breath wafting from his mouth in wispy blue streams.

"Mr. Lancer!" he exclaimed, punching the air with his fist and cutting the teacher off mid-sentence. "Can I go to the bathroom too?"

"No," Lancer said coldly.

"What?" whined Danny. "But you let Sam go!"

"That's different."

"Why?"

"Because," Lancer said, blushing slightly, "she has… you know… cramps." The last word came out in a self-conscious whisper.

"But," Danny protested weakly. "But I… I…"

Fortunately he was saved from having to invent an excuse when a large tiger coated in green flame suddenly materialised in the middle of the classroom and roared loudly.

"_Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_, another ghost!" exclaimed Lancer. "I don't believe the number of ghosts we get in this place. All right, students, everyone form a line and we'll exit the classroom in a quiet and orderly manner."

The students all screamed, knocked down their chairs and rushed for the door, tripping over desks and each other in the process… all except Danny and Tucker.

"Need any help?" asked Tucker.

"Get out into the corridor where it's safe," ordered Danny. "I'm going ghost!"

He was surrounded by a bright energy field as his hair paled to white, his eyes glowed green and a black-and-white jumpsuit replaced his jeans and t-shirt. Tucker strolled obediently out of the classroom while Danny prepared to face off with the tiger.

"Another glowy green animal, huh?" mused Danny. "Are you another one of Plasmius's pets?"

The tiger roared again, louder this time, and a stream of ectoplasmic energy shot from its mouth, sending Danny crashing into his own desk. He had neither the time nor the presence of mind to make himself incorporeal, and the desk snapped in two. The tiger then pounced on Danny and pinned him to the ground with one paw, the other raised menacingly in mid-air. From it extended three sharp, shiny green claws. The tiger snarled as it slashed at Danny's middle, making him cry out.

Tucker popped his head around the door. "Everything all right, Danny?"

"Er, yeah."

Danny raised his right arm as much as he could, and sent a stream of green power at the tiger. It yelped as it was thrown against the blackboard. Its claws extended on impact, and it slid down the board, making that horrible screeching sound that everybody hates.

"Aah!" wailed Tucker, slamming his hands over his ears.

Danny flinched at the horrible noise, but he didn't drop his guard. As soon as the tiger was on its feet again, he pelted it with balls of glowing green energy from both hands. The tiger snarled, cringing away from the assault, until it finally gave up and made for the door. It jumped over Tucker's head, and scrambled out into the corridor, the screams of the staff and students of Casper High marking its arrival. Danny jumped into the air and flew after it, becoming incorporeal in anticipation of meeting a few walls on the way. The tiger charged past the lockers until it finally came to the door of the girls' restroom.

"Sam!" exclaimed Danny, in horrific realisation, and he followed the tiger inside.

_To be continued…_


	2. Chapter 2

_Danny Phantom: _**Youth**

Part 2 

Sam didn't hear the tiger enter, as it didn't bother opening the door. The tearstains had dried up, and she had been just about to exit the toilet cubicle she was in when the beast's great head suddenly materialised in front of her. It seemed to take an instant dislike to her; its muzzle wrinkled back over its long sharp teeth and it growled menacingly.

"Aah!" shrieked Sam, taking a step back and stumbling into a sitting position on the toilet.

She shrank back fearfully as the tiger stepped further into the cubicle and lowered its body, ready to strike. However its expression of hostility quickly changed to one of sheer surprise as it was sucked backwards out of the cubicle. When Sam pushed the door open she saw, unsurprisingly, Danny floating about five feet in the air with the Fenton Thermos in his hand and a triumphant smile on his face.

"Sam!" said Danny, floating to the ground. He shoved the Fenton Thermos inside his jumpsuit and then took on his regular human form. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," replied Sam, though the tremble in her voice betrayed the lingering feelings of shock. "Thanks."

"And what about your, um, cramps?" Danny asked tentatively.

Sam rolled her eyes. "There were no cramps, Danny."

"Oh!" He was genuinely surprised. "So why did you…?"

Sam raised her eyebrows.

"Why did you run off to the bathroom like that?"

"Oh, well, I…"

"You're not still mad at me about Paulina, are you?"

Sam's face fell into a scowl. She was madder than he knew about Paulina – madder than she _wanted_ him to know. "Not everything is about you, Danny," she snapped.

"So is it something else?" He seemed genuinely concerned, and genuinely without a clue as to what was wrong. "Come on – you can tell me."

Sam bit her lip, not knowing what to say. To her relief the door flew open and Danny, not wanting to be caught in the girls' restroom, immediately morphed back into his ghost form.

"Ooh, Inviso-Bill – did you save us from the ghost tiger?" Paulina asked eagerly.

"Um, yeah, I guess so," said Danny, suddenly feeling the need to avoid Sam's eye.

"Oooooh, you're so brave," crooned Paulina, slithering up beside Danny. She then seemed to notice Sam for the first time. "You can leave now, unpopular girl," she ordered, jerking a thumb towards the door.

"Er, Sam," said Danny. "You don't have to…"

"Too late," scowled Sam, her heavy combat boots marching her towards the door. "I'm gone."

"There, that's better," Paulina smiled serenely, pushing her body up against Danny's. "Now we're all alone, just like last night."

"Er, Paulina… you shouldn't treat people like that, you know," Danny ventured timidly.

Paulina looked blank. "Like what?" she asked.

"Well, like… like _that_!" Danny waved his hands vaguely in the direction Sam had just left. "Kicking Sam out of the restroom like that – it was rude. She had cramps, you know," he added stiffly.

Paulina scoffed. "No she didn't. We all use that line on the male teachers all the time. And besides, she's nobody. What does it matter?"

"What does it matter if you hurt her feelings?" Danny said ironically.

"Exactly," smiled Paulina, apparently placated. "Now stop talking and kiss me, Inviso-Bill!"

"Um, I will," said Danny, placing a restraining finger on her puckered lips. "But first, this Inviso-Bill thing… it has to stop."

"But that's your name," reasoned Paulina.

"No it's not. The press gave me that name."

"Oh. So what _is_ your name?"

"Um…" Danny thought for a moment, wondering what to tell her. Danny Phantom was a perfectly fine name, but just too obvious to leave the circle of Sam, Tucker and himself. "You can just call me Stud Muffin."

Paulina looked dubious. "Seriously?"

"Well… how about Hunky?"

"How about you kiss me!" countered Paulina, flinging her arms around his neck.

Inevitably Danny gave in, and Paulina kissed him. However it didn't last long. Danny kept his lips pressed against hers as she tried to pull back from him, until finally she was forced to push him away.

"I'm sorry, Ghost Boy," she said. "I've got to get back to class."

"Oh yeah," Danny realised. "I guess Mr. Lancer… um, I mean, whatever your teacher is called… will be missing you."

"Oh, that's ok," giggled Paulina. "I'll tell him I had cramps. Bye-bye, Hunky."

"Great," muttered Danny, as Paulina skipped happily from the room. "What am _I_ gonna tell him?"

"Dear dear, Daniel, another detention," a mocking voice came out of nowhere, making Danny jump out of his skin.

"Plasmius!" exclaimed Danny, as Vlad's ghost form materialised in front of him. "I should have known you'd be lurking around here somewhere! How much did you see?"

"Enough," Vlad smiled sinisterly. "The fight with my dear pet kitty, the rescue of your disturbed little friend, the kiss with the pretty girl…"

"Yeah," Danny said coolly. "She really digs me. Lucky my accident didn't leave me disfigured and cause the love of my life to slip through my fingers, huh? AAAHH!"

He cried out in pain and surprise as he was suddenly overwhelmed by Vlad's red ectoplasmic energy, twenty years more powerful than his own. He struggled vainly, unable to fight back, until he slumped to the floor and became too weak to sustain his ghost form.

"Stop, _please_!" wailed Danny, the breath choking visibly from his mouth.

Vlad stopped the assault and let out a laugh of pure evil. "Danny Fenton begging for mercy – what a beautiful sound."

"Jesus Christ," breathed Danny, rising shakily into a sitting position.

"Did that hurt?" Vlad said nastily. "You haven't learned, have you – your power is nothing to mine. You would be wise not to hurt my feelings like that, Daniel."

Danny said nothing. He rubbed his smarting limbs, glaring at Vlad from underneath a fringe of raven hair.

"So." Vlad calmed his tone of voice. "She's the love of your life, is she?"

"I don't know," retorted Danny. "I'm fourteen."

"But right now…?"

"Right now? Sure." He didn't like answering personal questions from Vlad, but that last attack was very much fresh in his memory.

"Interesting…"

"You'd better leave Paulina alone, Plasmius!"

"Or what?" demanded Vlad. "You can never stop me, Daniel. Of course, my offer is still open… if you want to renounce your father and learn how to _really_ use those powers…"

"Dude, no way!"

"Very well. I'll be in touch."

Vlad became invisible, and Danny assumed that he had left. At any rate he could no longer see his own breath. He got shakily to his feet and made for the door, hoping that no one was outside to see him leaving the girls' restroom.

x x x

"It's perfectly simple!" bristled Sam. "When Kathy Two's father died his estate went to Kathy's closest male relative, and since her husband had died that only left _his_ father, Heathcliff, so…"

She stopped talking when the door swung open and Danny limped into the room, arms clasped across his stomach.

"Where have you been, Fenton?" demanded Mr. Lancer. "This discussion was resumed twenty minutes ago."

"I was in the bathroom," Danny said feebly. It was perfectly true, of course, and he _had_ told Mr. Lancer he needed to go.

"Well," Lancer went on, "Miss Manson was just explaining to us why _Wuthering Heights_ is a critique of patriarchal society in Victorian England."

"So," ventured Star, the fairly pretty blonde who enjoyed tailing Paulina. "Kathy's father's estate went to her father-in-law, even though Kathy was still alive?"

"Hmm?" Sam had forgotten all of the last twenty minutes, and was gazing anxiously at Danny. He was slumped in his chair, still holding himself, looking troubled and in physical pain. "Oh." She snapped back to reality. "Yeah."

"But that's not fair," objected Star.

Sam scowled. "That's the whole point."

"Hey, Danny!" hissed Tucker, as the discussion laboured on. "You ok, man?"

Danny shook his head.

"You need to go to the nurse's office?"

"No."

Danny sat up, beginning to feel a little more comfortable now, physically at least. However he was still feeling uneasy in his mind, as he had been all day, but now he feared for Paulina as well as for himself. He attempted to cut a glance at her, but Sam intercepted the look.

When recess finally came around, Sam and Tucker were both anxious to hear what had happened to Danny. He and Tucker sat at one of the picnic benches, backs to the table, while Sam paced anxiously in front of them.

"I thought you'd come back after Paulina showed up," she said.

"Why did you think he'd come back then?" asked Tucker.

"They were making out in the bathroom."

"Oh. Neat!"

"There was someone else in there with us," Danny cut in. "It was Vlad." He went on to tell the rest of the story, though he omitted the detail about naming Paulina as the love of his life. "I think Plasmius is going to try to use Paulina to get to me," he said carefully. "You know… because he saw us together."

Sam stopped pacing. "Did he say that?" she asked.

"Well, more or less."

"You'll have to stop seeing her, then."

Danny blinked. "I… I can't! Er, I mean… it wouldn't do any good. Plasmius knows how I feel about her now, and it's no use pretending I'm not interested anymore because he also knows you can't just switch it on and off."

"It was a stupid thing to do in the first place, getting involved with her," Sam persisted. "I mean, what's so special about Paulina, anyway?"

"She's hot," Danny replied at once.

"Yeah, and that's all she is. Well, besides being rude and selfish and obnoxious and… and… didn't you hear the way she talked to me in the bathroom?"

"Yes," Danny said impatiently. "I'm sorry about that. I told her she shouldn't have done it, and I know she can be pretty insensitive sometimes. But she was… you know… _touching_ me." His voice began to falter. "And when I'm with her…"

"All the blood powering your brain rushes somewhere else," Sam said dryly.

Danny sighed. "Sure, yeah, that's it."

"I expected more from you, Danny. To like a girl just for her body is shallow, not to mention deeply sexist."

"Sam, stop!" begged Danny. "Forget about Paulina, ok? I got a serious problem: Vlad. Ok, so the last few times we met I managed to get him off my back for a little while, but the guy is _never_ going to leave me alone! And however powerful I get, he'll always be twenty years ahead of me. What am I going to do?"

"You need to, like, banish him to another dimension or something," ventured Tucker.

"Thanks, Tuck, that was really helpful," Sam said sarcastically. She sat down on the bench beside Danny and asked gently, "How are you feeling now, Danny? You looked terrible when you walked into class."

"I was still smarting a little then," Danny said dismissively. "I'm fine now."

"I know!" exclaimed Tucker. "You should pretend to cross over to the dark side, and let Vlad teach you how to reach your full potential. And then when you're all powerful you can turn round and go, 'Ha! I was fooling you all along, Plasmius!' and then blast him with a supercharged ecto-grinade."

"Well _that's_ dishonest," remarked Sam.

"And I don't like it," added Danny. "Placing myself in Vlad's hands… doesn't sound like such a good idea."

The bell sounded, signifying that the second half of the morning's teaching was about to begin.

"Are you sure you're ok, Danny?" asked Sam, as she rose to her feet. "You don't want me to take you to the nurse?"

"I'm fine," Danny insisted. "Let's just get to class."

x x x

Danny spent the rest of the day distracted, particularly after Paulina had left the school and he had to stay for his detention. She could be in danger from Vlad without him around to protect her.

"All right, Fenton," said Lancer. "I want five hundred words on why it is inappropriate for male students to cut class to spend time in the bathroom."

Danny raised his eyebrows. "Are you serious?"

"Five hundred words, Fenton."

It was nearing four thirty when Danny was finally allowed to leave. He found Sam and Tucker waiting for him outside, and smiled at the welcome sight.

"What took you so long?" asked Tucker.

"Lancer wanted five hundred words on why it's inappropriate for male students to cut class to spend time in the bathroom. I had some trouble thinking of things to say. So how's Paulina?"

"I tailed her until she went home," said Tucker. Danny had asked him to do this before they parted ways at the end of school. "She was fine, last time I saw her."

Danny looked worried. "But she might not be fine now."

"You could always go ghost and fly into her house to see what she's up to," said Sam. "You might be lucky enough to catch her in the shower."

Her sarcastic tone was completely lost on Danny. "That's a great idea!" he enthused. "I'm going ghost!"

Danny Phantom flew to Paulina's house and in through her open bedroom window. Paulina, who was painting her toenails, looked terrified for a moment – but her expression softened when she saw who the intruder was.

"Ooh, Inviso-Bill, you're insatiable!"

"Er, hi, sorry," Danny said awkwardly. "I just came to see if you were all right."

"All the better for seeing you," crooned Paulina. "Would you like to paint my nails for me?"

"Um…"

"I was going to go to a movie with Star after I finished painting my nails, but if you'd rather I stayed here with you…"

"I'd rather you didn't go out," Danny admitted.

"Well then come over here and let me fling my arms around your neck."

"Um… sure, great."

x x x

"How long as he been in there?" asked Sam.

Tucker glanced at his watch. "About half an hour."

They had been waiting for Danny across the street from Paulina's house. Danny had said he'd be right out, but for the last half hour he had been very much in. Sam glanced down at the notebook in her hand. She had been inspired to write a few lines of angsty Goth poetry while she waited.

"I mean, he knows we're here, right?" Sam went on. "He wouldn't go home invisible so we didn't notice him, would he?"

"That would be a weird thing to do," remarked Tucker.

They waited a few more minutes before Danny suddenly materialised next to them, having flown from Paulina's house invisible, and changed into his human form.

"What were you _doing_ in there?" demanded Sam.

"I had to stay with her," Danny said defensively. "Otherwise she would have gone out."

"You've got lipstick all over your face – you look like a cheap whore," Sam said scathingly. "You've been kissing her again. I'll bet you only left because her mom called her for dinner."

Danny looked at his feet.

"Speaking of dinner," said Tucker, "I gotta go. I'll catch you guys later, ok?"

He sloped off, not sorry to get away from the atmosphere. Sam and Danny stood in silence for several minutes. It was beginning to get dark, and their breath spiralled visibly on the cold air.

"I wrote a poem," Sam said at last.

"Oh." Danny didn't know what else to say.

"I'd love to know what you think of it."

"Oh, sure, ok. Let's see it."

Sam handed her notebook to Danny, open at a page on which were scrawled the lines:

_Malevolent beauty  
__Drips its poison onto the roots of friendship,  
__Love's fragile flower  
__Wilts in darkness._

"That's really great, Sam," Danny enthused. "If you like that sort of thing."

"Don't _you_ like that sort of thing?"

"Well… I'm not a Goth."

"So I guess you can't infer the meaning."

"There's a meaning? I thought all Goth poetry was just like, everything's bad."

Sam snatched back her notebook. "God, Danny, you're so insensitive!"

"Insensitive?" echoed Danny. He sounded positively shocked. "Me?"

"Yes, you! You're so wrapped up in yourself you don't even _notice_ how anyone else is feeling, never mind care!"

"Jeez, Sam, you're beginning to sound just like Jazz."

"I'm going home."

"Hey wait!" called Danny, running to catch up with Sam as she marched off down the street. "Let me walk you home. It's dark – anything could happen."

"I can take care of myself, Danny."

"I can't let you walk home in the dark on your own."

"Why?" demanded Sam. "Because I'm a girl?"

"Well… yeah."

"Just leave me alone, Danny, ok?"

He stopped just underneath a lamppost, intending to let her walk to the end of the street and then give her an invisible escort home. However he became distracted when he saw wisps of blue breath trailing from his mouth. He looked around, preparing to go ghost, but no paranormal being was immediately obvious and soon his ghost sense subsided altogether. Danny morphed into his ghost form anyway, became invisible and followed Sam at a discreet distance.

x x x

"I'm home," announced Sam, as she began to trudge upstairs.

"Your dinner's all ready for you, honey," her mother said brightly.

"I'm not hungry."

"Oh Sam, you have to eat!"

"I said I'm not hungry."

Sam went up to her room and closed the door. She didn't want to cry again. She had done more than enough crying at school, just before that tiger attack. She blinked back the tears and concentrated on the part of her that felt angry – the part that didn't want to weep with frustration.

"Tut-tut, little girl, you shouldn't walk home on your own at this late hour."

Sam jumped on hearing the disembodied voice somewhere in front of her, and looked sharply around the room. She had only to wait a moment before a familiar figure appeared in front of her, a low chuckle escaping from its evil smile.

"Plasmius!" exclaimed Sam. "What are _you_ doing here? Danny's gone home."

"I'm glad," said Vlad. "I am here for you, my troubled young friend. Now do yourself a favour and don't struggle. I wouldn't want to hurt you _too _badly. Well… not yet, anyway."

"Are you insane? What the hell are you doing?" screeched Sam, as Vlad stretched out his hands and moved menacingly towards her. "Get the hell away from me, you creep! HEEEELP!"

x x x

Paulina, meanwhile, was experiencing a similar problem in her own bedroom. She was being attacked by three green vultures, each one trying to get a grip on one of her arms or legs.

"Let go of me, you weird ghost birds!" she whined irritably. "You're ruining my manicure!"

"So stay still, toots," advised one of the vultures. "Look, you're coming with us whether you like it or not."

"You'll never get away with this!" threatened Paulina. "Inviso-Bill will save me!"

"You hope," another vulture intoned ominously.

Paulina screamed as she felt herself lifted off the ground. Two vultures held onto her shoulders with their talons; the other had a grip on her ankle. When the birds became incorporeal, so did Paulina, and she was whisked through her bedroom wall into the cold night air.

x x x

"Sam!" A motorised wheelchair containing a squat elderly woman brandishing a baseball bat burst through Sam's bedroom door. "I'll save you! Let me at 'em!"

"It's all right, um… Grandma," Sam said, her voice sounding strangely distorted. "It was only a spider."

"A spider?" Grandma frowned suspiciously. "Since when are you afraid of spiders?"

"Oh, well, I…"

The somewhat poor explanation was cut off as Sam's father appeared behind her grandmother. "Sam, honey? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine… Dad," said Sam, still talking strangely. "Now can you please leave me alone, both of you?"

"Your mother wants you downstairs for dinner, honey," said Sam's father.

"I said I'm not hungry. Now get out."

"But honey…"

"I said GET OUT!"

The sheer force of Sam's voice seemed to propel both her father and grandmother backwards, simultaneously shutting the bedroom door on them. Vlad then smiled knowingly to himself as he walked, in Sam's body, towards the window.

"Unsuspecting fools," he muttered to himself. Then, glancing up, he saw his three hench-vultures carrying a struggling Paulina in the vague direction of the Fentons' home, and ultimately their Ghost Portal. "Ah, excellent. Once I have taken this one to join her, all will be in readiness for young Daniel."

Vlad stepped out of Sam's body, leaving her momentarily drained and disorientated. He took advantage of this moment and whisked her into his arms, clamping a hand over her mouth in case she decided to try calling for help again.

"Mmmm mmm!" Sam exclaimed vehemently.

"Do not worry, my dear," crooned Vlad, as he prepared to take off into the night sky. "You will see your friend Daniel shortly."

x x x

Danny had been eating dinner while all of this was going on. As he chewed his food he worried about whether Paulina was all right, in between wondering what possible reason Sam could have to call him insensitive. He could only assume it was some kind of girl problem involving hormones.

When he went up to his room after dinner, with the intention of catching up on his homework, Danny found an unwelcome visitor waiting for him on the windowsill.

"Jesus, a ghost vulture!" he exclaimed, a trail of blue following the words from his mouth. "I'm going gho- "

"Not so fast, kiddo," the vulture interrupted calmly. "I'm only here to deliver a message."

"Oh, you're one of Vlad's minions," Danny realised. "Of course, duh. What kind of a message?"

The vulture jumped off the windowsill, flew a couple of yards across the room and dropped a lock of black hair at Danny's feet.

"It's hair," Danny remarked distastefully, crouching to take a closer look at the token.

"Not just any hair," the bird said triumphantly. "That belongs to your girlfriend Paulina. It's visible proof that Vlad is holding her hostage, and if you ever want to see her alive again you'll have to follow me into the Ghost Zone."

"_What_?" exclaimed Danny. "Damn it! I knew something like this was going to happen! But… how can I be sure you're not lying?"

"That's her hair."

"It could be anyone's hair."

"Hmm… I guess you're right," the vulture conceded. "But are you prepared to take that chance?"

Danny sighed. "I guess not. All right, let's go to the basement. Be invisible, ok?"

"Sure thing, ghost kid."

x x x

Sam awoke with the feeling of having been under a strong general anaesthetic. She didn't remember it, but she assumed Vlad must somehow have managed to sedate her before brining her here… wherever "here" was. She blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the light. The first thing she noticed was that she was surrounded by bars, and when she looked up she saw that these came together some distance above her head to form a circular structure.

_Great, I'm in a giant birdcage,_ thought Sam, as she began to test the bars. They were thin enough for her to wrap her hands around them comfortably, but she couldn't shift the metal even slightly, and she hadn't expected to. Then she noticed a similar – probably identical – cage a little to her left. She walked towards it and peered through the two sets of bars at its occupant. Someone was sitting on the floor of the cage, leaning against the bars and examining her fingernails with interest.

"Paulina?" Sam asked incredulously.

Paulina looked up. "Oh," she said disinterestedly. "It's you."

"What the hell is going on here?"

"How should I know?"

"Are you just going to sit there?" demanded Sam. She tugged experimentally on the bars immediately in front of her, and then set to work testing other parts of the structure for weaknesses. "We have to get out of here!"

"Calm down, don't be such a panic merchant," Paulina said breezily. "Inviso-Bill will be here to save me any minute, and he might take you along too."

"Of course he'd rescue me if he was here!" bristled Sam. "But he _isn't_ here! We're not helpless, Paulina. We have to get _ourselves_ out of this. You can't get through life expecting some guy to come and save you."

Paulina laughed. "Is that so? Come on, Sam, admit it: you love it when Inviso-Bill saves you."

"I do not!"

"Oh yes you do. It gets you all hot under the collar, doesn't it?"

"It certainly does not!" snapped Sam. "No self-respecting woman enjoys being rescued these days."

"Oh, uh-huh, whatever."

"Look, are you gonna help me bust out of here or what?"

"We can't get out of here by ourselves," Paulina insisted. "Look at this place. It's like a ghost's lair or something. Only the ghost boy can get us out of here."

It occurred to Sam that she hadn't taken a close look at where she was, as Paulina had suggested, quite likely because she knew she wouldn't like whatever she saw. She realised, however, that she would have to face it sometime. She tugged her gaze away from Paulina, in the direction of a slight warmth she realised she was feeling on her left-hand side.

Sam saw that both her cage and Paulina's were situated dangerously close to the edge of a yawning ravine, on the opposite side of which was just visible another, narrower looking cliff. The warmth Sam was feeling was explained by what was inside the ravine: a writhing, bubbling sea of molten lava. Sam gulped.

"Paulina," she hissed.

Paulina yawned. "What?"

"Haven't you noticed the lava?"

"Sure," shrugged Paulina. "But Inviso-Bill wouldn't let anything happen to me."

Sam sucked in her breath, and then looked around for further clues as to her possible fate. Suspended some distance above the cages were two hooks, one tied to each end of a perfectly balanced horizontal metal pole. Sam saw that this was held by a precarious looking rope, which seemed to disappear into the darkness above them. Everything visible in this place went on and on until it was consumed by darkness, except for the lava, which glowed menacingly.

"Paulina!" Sam squeaked nervously. "This looks pretty serious! Inviso-Bill isn't that powerful yet – he might not be able to save us on his own!"

Paulina scowled. "And what do _you_ know about Inviso-Bill? He's _my _boyfriend."

Sam scowled back, momentarily forgetting her terror.

"And," added Paulina, "I happen to know he's the most powerful superhero in the whole world. So there."

If Sam had a retort she never had a chance to say it, for at that moment she was distracted by the sound of air on outspread wings as a green ghost vulture swooped onto the scene. She noticed then that the vulture was being followed by a familiar jumpsuited figure, and her spirits rose considerably. Danny Phantom was on the other side of the ravine, so far away Sam that couldn't see him clearly. As far she could tell, he didn't seem to have spotted either her or Paulina at all.

_To be continued…_


	3. Chapter 3

_Danny Phantom: _**Youth**

Part 3

"Invis- " Paulina began to yell, but she was cut off suddenly as yet another green vulture appeared, flew through the bars of the cage and clapped a wing over her mouth.

"Mmmm!" wailed Paulina.

"Quiet, toots," hissed the vulture. "You'll get your chance in a minute."

Sam, being the more experienced of the two captives in this kind of situation, thought it best to stay quiet. Vlad might be planning anything, and if Danny charged in before anyone knew what was going on, the consequences could be disastrous.

"VLAD!" Danny exclaimed angrily. "Show yourself! What have you done with Paulina?"

Sam stuck out her bottom lip. Obviously she hadn't been missed.

"Nothing yet," Vlad's eerie tones filled the cave-like surroundings, and he gradually floated into view from the darkness above. He had his back to Sam and Paulina, but was facing Danny who stood on the narrow ledge overlooking the lava. "Charming little spot, isn't it? It used to belong to a dragon ghost I hoped to destroy you with, but dragons are troublesome things and I've had to imprison it for a while to calm it down."

"I'll keep an eye out for it in future," Danny said warily, wondering what on earth (or whatever the appropriate phrase) was going on here, and desperate at least to know where Paulina was.

"Hopefully that won't be necessary," Vlad intoned ominously, "after tonight."

"So what's the deal, Plasmius?" demanded Danny. "Where's Paulina? What exactly will it take for you to send her home?"

"Ah, Daniel, the curse of being fourteen," Vlad sighed insincerely. "I remember it well. You are a slave to your hormones, aren't you, little man?" He noticed, with some satisfaction, that Danny was seething with anger, his fists clenched at his sides. "This Paulina is very special to you, isn't she?"

"You know she is," Danny said through gritted teeth.

"Would you do anything for her?"

"I guess so."

"Would you die for her?"

"Enough of the small-talk, Plasmius," snapped Danny. "Let's cut the crap and get down to business. What game are we playing here?"

"Very well," Vlad said obligingly. "Let the games begin."

Two of the vultures seemed to take this as their cue to swoop down and each grab one of the cages in which Vlad was keeping his two captives. Sam supposed there must be some kind of metal ring atop the cages that she couldn't see from her current position. She guessed what was going to happen next, and sure enough the vulture dropped the cage onto one of the precariously balanced hooks over the lava pit. Glancing to her right, she saw that Paulina's cage was dropped onto the opposite hook at the exact same moment. The vultures then let go and flew into the shadows, leaving both girls hanging over the belching lava. Even in her terror, Sam wondered whether she and Paulina weighed exactly the same amount. She found this hard to believe. Vlad was as organised as any villain could be; he must have added the necessary extra weight to one of the cages.

"Paulina!" Sam heard Danny exclaim, and she looked up sharply. Hadn't he noticed her? She was about to call out and alert him to her presence, but then she realised that she could no longer see him. Blackness obscured the narrow cliff overlooking the ravine. Sam's heart seemed to stop, and her fingers gripped the bars of her cage instinctively. Tears came to her eyes as she closed them against the bubbling molten rock directly below her, which she could see clearly through the bars in the floor of the cage. What the hell was Vlad playing at?

"You sound surprised," remarked Vlad. "You knew I had her."

Danny prepared to take flight, but stopped when Vlad held up a restraining hand. Danny didn't like taking orders from his arch-nemesis, but he had the presence of mind to realise that he shouldn't do anything too quickly in a place that his enemy knew but to which he was a complete stranger.

"Not so fast, Danny boy," Vlad said calmly. "Things are not quite so simple."

He lifted his right hand in a magical gesture, and a blanket of darkness seemed to be lifted from Sam's cage. She could see Danny quite clearly now, and he was staring straight into her eyes.

"SAM!" he exclaimed, with a great deal more panic than had been behind his cry of "Paulina!" "Jesus, Vlad, what the hell is going on here?"

"Must I explain?" asked Vlad, in tones of severe boredom. "You must choose to save the life of one of these young ladies. As you see, the cages are perfectly balanced, and as long as both girls remain inside the scales will stay level. However as soon as you fly in and whisk one away, the other cage will tumble from the hook and into…" – he gestured vaguely at the angry lava below them – "that."

"Why?" Danny asked confusedly.

"I wish to see whose life you value more."

"Why?"

"Daniel, please, don't waste time – I have you at a disadvantage. You would do best to decide quickly."

"I don't see why," said Danny. "I mean, if I just leave them both hanging there while I figure out a way to kick your butt…"

"You will lose them both," Vlad concluded. "Observe."

He lifted his right hand again, and this time the rope holding the metal pole began to descend from the ceiling, lowering the two cages slowly down towards the lava pit. Sam and Paulina both screamed shrilly. Danny's eyes filled with panic, and he looked frantically from one cage to the other as though he were watching a particularly fast tennis rally.

"Jesus Christ, they're gonna _die_!" he exclaimed, as the horrible truth finally dawned on him.

"You take me seriously at last," Vlad said, calm as ever. "Only one of them has to die. Choose quickly now, or you'll lose them both."

"Vlad, please!" wailed Danny, his eyes still darting between the slowly descending cages. "You can't! You wouldn't! You don't have it in you!"

Vlad's eyes narrowed. "Then you little know me."

"I don't believe… ah Christ!"

Danny, realising that there was no time to carry on a conversation, frantically tried to decide what to do. All of his strongest instincts told him to take off and get rescuing, and it took tremendous willpower to keep his feet on that ledge. He just _had_ to think of a way to save them both. He knew he wasn't fast enough to rescue one girl and then zoom down to grab the other's cage before she hit the lava. His only hope, he realised, was to master that impossible trick of splitting himself in two.

Vlad cocked an eyebrow as Danny squeezed his eyes shut, tensed every muscle in his body and began to strain noisily.

"Yes, well," said Vlad, "I've heard that stress can cause constipation."

"Jesus Christ!" exclaimed Danny, when he felt constrained to open his eyes and saw how dangerously close the two cages were to the lava. They were still some distance from it, but he realised that the intense heat alone would soon be enough to kill them. Danny glanced at Paulina, who was looking at him impatiently, obviously wondering what was taking him so long. Then he looked at Sam, and saw the fear in her eyes. She wasn't looking at him. She was staring down at the lava as it rose slowly to meet her, her knuckles white from gripping the bars of her cage.

As Danny watched her, she suddenly snatched her hands away, wincing slightly with pain. The metal must have become too hot to hold. Danny hadn't the presence of mind to think of it, but Sam was quietly wondering whether the cages ought to be melting in this intense heat. The lava was still a way below her, of course; the heat would probably kill both her and Paulina before they made contact with the stuff itself.

Danny dropped to his knees. "Vlad, please!" he exclaimed. "Don't do this! I'm begging you! I'll do anything! I… SAM!"

Just yards remained between the cages and the lava, and at last instinct took over. Forgetting Vlad and the vultures, even forgetting Paulina, Danny shot towards Sam, quite probably faster than his record of a-hundred-and-twelve miles per hour. He became incorporeal and shot through the bars hands first, grabbing Sam and making her intangible as he flew out of the cage on the other side.

Danny landed on the cliff where Sam had first woken, and placed her gently on her feet, making them both corporeal as he did so. Her skin was red, and even slightly blistered in places. Sweat poured down her face like raindrops on a windowpane, and her hair was plastered to her forehead.

"Oh my God, Sam!" exclaimed Danny, hugging her to him. "Jesus Christ! Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," said Sam, panting from the shock of the sudden rescue and the dregs of her fear. "I'm ok… get off me." She pushed Danny away, and then ran to the edge of the cliff, yelling, "Paulina!"

Danny's heart froze. Paulina. He had forgotten her, right up to the moment that Sam shouted her name. He followed Sam to the edge of the cliff at a much slower pace, feeling numb. Technically, he realised, by tipping the balance of the scales, he had killed Paulina.

Sam felt sick. Of Paulina's cage there was no sign. The hooks hung side-by-side from the metal pole, just as Sam had seen them when she first woke. Feeling sick, she squinted at the cliff on the opposite side of the ravine. Then she saw Vlad, and he wasn't alone. He was standing over someone – someone Sam wouldn't necessarily have recognised under normal circumstances, but it definitely wasn't a green vulture.

"Oh my God!" she shouted across to Vlad. "I can't believe it! You saved her, didn't you! You really _didn't_ have it in you!"

Danny, who was lurking some distance behind Sam, looked up slowly. When he saw the figure of Paulina for himself, he felt an overwhelming sense of relief, and slumped to the ground.

"I certainly do have it in me!" argued Vlad, flying across the ravine to hover in front of Sam. "But it occurred to me that I would never persuade Daniel to join me if I was responsible for the death of the object of his desire. I think it's safe to assume their relationship is now over, but I am sure he still desires her. And that has always been my primary aim, you know, Samantha: to bring Danny over to the dark side."

Sam nodded. "I know. But he's never going to join you, and I fail to see how you could think a stunt like that would improve your chances."

"Oh Samantha, you have too much misplaced faith in your beau," Vlad chuckled sinisterly. "Look at him. I have him right where I want him."

Sam turned, and saw that Danny was sitting on the floor with a blank expression on his face. He was staring at nothing, utterly catatonic.

"Danny?" she ventured uncertainly.

"You!" Vlad gestured somewhere above his head, and his three vultures descended into view. "One of you take the painted whore home, and one of you take the Goth."

"No," said Sam, holding up her hand as one of the vultures approached her. "I'm not leaving him."

"You have no choice."

"I'm staying."

"Take her away."

"Hey!" objected Sam, as a vulture grabbed her by the shoulders and flew her away from Danny. Another vulture was some yards ahead of them with Paulina. "Danny! Wake up! None of this is your fault! There wasn't anything else you could have done! Don't listen to him, Danny! Whatever he says, don't listen!"

"You do talk a lot," remarked the vulture that was carrying her, as Danny and Vlad become a dot on the horizon.

"Shut up," snapped Sam. "Just shut the hell up. If he's not back home safe and sound by morning I'll… I'll…"

"There's nothing you can do, sweetheart," the vulture interrupted. "Just let me take you home and then try to get some sleep, huh? It's a school night, isn't it?"

"Damn it." Sam's face fell. "So it is."

x x x

Danny looked up as Vlad floated down to land in front of him. Somehow, without noticing, Danny had reverted to his human form.

"So what happens now?" he asked blankly.

"You haven't the energy to battle me, I suppose."

Danny shook his head.

"Very well." Vlad stooped lower, trying to meet Danny's eye. The boy was still slumped on the floor. "Let me teach you that splitting up trick."

Danny shook his head again.

"You could have saved them both."

"It's over now," said Danny. "What would be the point?"

"Suppose it happened again."

"You're planning on doing it again?"

"Perhaps not," said Vlad. "It worked a treat, though. I shall have to remember it."

Danny's expression suddenly turned black, and he jumped to his feet. "What do you mean, it worked a treat?" he demanded angrily. "Nothing came of it. You sent them both home. What exactly was this little stunt supposed to achieve?"

"Well," said Vlad, "for one thing, I know where your heart truly lies."

Danny sighed. "Paulina's just a piece of ass. Sam's my friend."

"That's all she is?" Vlad asked casually. "Just a friend?"

Danny laughed dryly. " 'Just a friend'. What a cliché. There's no such thing as 'just a friend', Plasmius. Sam is one of the most important people in my life. I'd do anything for my friends. But you don't really understand about friends." He looked Vlad in the eye. "Do you."

Vlad's eyes narrowed. "You would be wise not to anger me, boy."

"Admit it, Vlad: you screwed up," said Danny. "Your plan was to force me to save one of those girls and then live with the insufferable guilt of letting the other one plummet to her doom. Sam and I were right, weren't we: you don't have it in you."

Vlad's expression darkened, and he grabbed Danny's wrist in tight fist, making him cry out. "You'd be surprised," he snarled.

"Come on then." Danny gritted his teeth, and spoke through the pain. "Let's fight, if that's what you want. Again."

"You can never win. There are no clever devices here, Daniel. There's nothing to help you gain an advantage. There's nothing here but rock and magma."

"Magma _is_ rock."

"Oh shut up," bristled Vlad. "I do admit, I didn't expect you to know that. You remind me terribly of your father sometimes."

"Let go of me," said Danny. "That kinda smarts."

"As you wish," Vlad said nastily, and he threw Danny across the length of the cave. He expected the boy to morph into his ghost form, at least to minimise injury even if he wasn't quick enough to save himself. However Danny didn't transform, and his human body hit the jagged edge of a large boulder with a sickening crack.

Vlad floated over to him. "I hardly dare ask."

"I can't," panted Danny. "I don't have the energy."

Vlad seemed to consider this for a moment. Then at last he said, "Oh no. I won't be outwitted by a C student. You're testing me, aren't you? You're trying to find out exactly what I _am_ capable of."

Danny shook his head. "No. Really. I can't."

"It's a dangerous game, Daniel," said Vlad, dragging Danny to his feet.

x x x

The vulture dropped Sam in her bed, but she jumped straight out of it as soon as the bird had flown. She knew that Vlad wouldn't expect her to be able to charge in and somehow save Danny, and he was probably right. But nevertheless, she had to try.

As it was the middle of the night, she was able to sneak downstairs unnoticed. Once out of the front door, Sam made straight for Tucker's house. She didn't feel comfortable about roaming the streets alone at night, but felt reassured when she realised that she knew most of the unsavoury looking people lurking in the shadows, and they in turn seemed to respect her as a fellow Goth and creature of the night.

Sam picked up a handful of gravel from Tucker's driveway and threw it at his window. She had to do this a total of eight times before a bleary-eyed Tucker finally popped his head out of the window and said, "Uhh…?"

"Tucker!" hissed Sam. "Get down here! Danny's in trouble!"

Tucker, wearing a t-shirt and boxer shorts, trudged downstairs in the fashion of a particularly tired zombie and opened the front door. He then ushered Sam inside, and led her up to his bedroom.

"So what's been going on?" he asked, when he was a little bit more awake.

Sam proceeded to tell the whole sorry story of what Vlad had done to her, Paulina and Danny, ending on an agitated note when she reported that Danny was alone with Vlad in that dangerous place.

"And the worst part is I don't even know where it is!" she squeaked. "I was knocked out on the way there, and I was trying to visualise our map of the ghost world on the way out, but there was no way I could keep track of where we were going because one green door looks pretty much like another. Oh God, Tucker, I should have paid more attention! I mean, how are we ever gonna find the lair of one dragon ghost in the entire Ghost Zone? It can't be done! Vlad could be doing anything to - "

"Did you say dragon ghost?" interrupted Tucker.

"Er… yeah…"

"Was the dragon ghost there?"

"No," said Sam. "No, it wasn't." She tried to remember exactly what Plasmius had said. "Vlad told us he had it imprisoned somewhere."

"Where does Vlad usually keep his prisoners?"

"I always assumed his basement, where he keeps his Ghost Portal. Tucker, what good is any of this going to…?"

Tucker didn't seem to be paying attention. He was booting up his computer.

"What are you doing?" demanded Sam.

"I want to find a number for animal control in Wisconsin."

"Animal control in Wisconsin? Are you insane?"

"Don't talk so loud, you'll wake my parents. Look, I've only got one idea how we can help Danny. Isn't it worth a shot?"

"Um… sure, I guess."

"Good."

Tucker had an extraordinary talent for finding anything he wanted on the Internet in under five minutes, and quickly found the number he was looking for. He was encouraged to see that the website promised calls would be taken any time of the day or night, and he immediately punched the number into his cell phone.

"Hello," Tucker said amiably, to the woman in Wisconsin who answered his call. Then his confidence wavered slightly when he realised that he didn't know Vlad's address. "Um, do you know the mansion of Vlad…?"

"Masters," hissed Sam, seeing his look of panic.

"Masters," echoed Tucker.

Fortunately the woman did know Vlad's mansion, as it and its owner were extremely famous in her neck of the woods.

"Good," Tucker sighed with relief. "I'm a little concerned about what he's doing in there. I think he might have some kind of animal which he's keeping prisoner in his basement. When I walk past his mansion, I hear this sort of… tortured roar, as though of a wild animal being kept in a cage and starved."

He cut a look at Sam, and caught her dubious expression.

"I happen to know that Mr. Masters is out tonight," Tucker continued. "I wondered if you could maybe go and check out his mansion…? What do you mean, you can't break in? Take a cop with you!"

Sam rolled her eyes.

"But it really is urgent," Tucker went on desperately. "Masters has… I saw him taking two kids into his house before he went away! If anything happens to them…"

To Sam's astonishment, Tucker finally persuaded whoever was on the other end of the phone line to send some guys into Vlad's mansion.

"You really think they'll let the dragon out?" asked Sam.

"We gotta hope so," said Tucker. "Come on – we'd better get over to Danny's place and see if there's anything else we can do."

x x x

Danny lay limp and breathless on the rocky edge of the cliff. His face shone and glowed in the heat of the lava beneath him. He shrank back as the menacing form of Vlad Plasmius loomed into view overhead.

"Why don't you fight back?" demanded Vlad.

"I can't," Danny said weakly.

"You can! This isn't some pro-social superhero cartoon in which your powers depend upon you having confidence in yourself or some such nonsense! You can transform."

Danny shook his head. "I don't feel like it."

"Oh, come now, you're being ridiculous…"

"Vlad, you've beaten me. I practically killed Paulina tonight. You were right: I'll never be as powerful as you. I can't win. I'm not doing this anymore."

Vlad cocked an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

"Completely. Now leave me alone."

"How will you get home?"

"Do you care?" Danny sat up tentatively, and then shuffled away from the ravine. "Look, Vlad, I really think you could use some kind of help. You're so damn _violent_, and you're obviously deeply disturbed. What happened here tonight… was that really all about my mother?"

Afterwards, when the shock had worn off, Danny was disappointed that the interruption came at that precise moment. He was genuinely interested in Vlad's answer to his question. But no answer came. Instead Vlad cried out in terror as a large, translucent, angry looking red dragon swooped down upon them and gathered the folds of Plasmius' cape into its claws.

"Jesus Christ!" exclaimed Danny, as his arch-nemesis was carried helplessly into the darkness above. He had to duck as a torrent of flame descended from the shadows. It wasn't aimed at him, however; evidently the dragon didn't like the alteration Vlad had made to its lair. The stream of fire severed the dangling rope and sent it, the metal bar and the two parrot cages tumbling into the lava.

Danny really had felt too tired to morph into his ghost form, but he realised that this was his best chance of escape. He summoned what little energy still lurked in the furthest corners of his body, and prepared to fly out of there.

x x x

"I don't like being out this late with no protection," Tucker lamented, as he and Sam walked the distance to the Fentons' house. "I don't like the look of all these Goths."

"The Goths are nothing to worry about," Sam assured him. "It's the Chavs you wanna watch out for."

Danny had given both of his friends a key to his house for emergencies, and Tucker had had the foresight to take his with him. He was unlocking the front door at about the same moment Vlad's local animal protection service was puzzling over the strange creature locked in Vlad's basement, but letting it out in spite of their confusion because it was obviously in distress.

"What do we do now?" demanded Sam, once she and Tucker were standing uselessly in front of the Fenton Ghost Portal. "Should we go in and look for him?"

"Is that wise?" Tucker demurred. "I mean, you don't know where Danny is, and if he escapes while we're blundering around the Ghost Zone…"

"And how exactly is he going to do that?"

"Well, the Wisconsin people should have released the ghost dragon by now."

"And what if they haven't?" squeaked Sam, torn between expressing her emotions to their full extent and not waking the three sleeping Fentons upstairs. "It's a ghost dragon, for Christ's sake! No sensible person just lets out a - "

"I'll call them and see if I can find out what's going on," Tucker said soothingly, whipping out his cell phone. He pressed the redial button and put the phone to his ear. "Hello. This is the concerned citizen who called you about the strange noises coming from the basement of Vlad Masters. I wondered if you could give me a progress report."

"Well, you were right," said the woman on the other end of the line, sounding very tentative about handing over this information. "He was keeping a very strange animal down there. We don't know what it was, but it was clearly in distress."

"Did you set it free?"

"Well, yes, but never mind that. Something puzzles me. We have caller ID here, and it says you're calling from out of area, so I don't see how you could - "

"Thanks, bye." Tucker quickly hung up, and then turned to Sam with a reassuring smile. "Well, they let the dragon go."

"They did?" Sam raised her eyebrows. "Well, we lucked out there… assuming it's gone home and started kicking the crap out of Plasmius."

"Why wouldn't it?" Tucker said reasonably. "That's what I'd do."

Sam cut a glance at the Ghost Portal. "How long are we prepared to wait?"

They waited an anxious ten minutes before Danny Phantom finally emerged from the portal. He immediately transformed, and sat down heavily on the ground.

"Oh my God, Danny!" exclaimed Sam, when she saw the state he was in. "The dragon didn't attack _you_, did it?"

Danny raised his eyes and looked at her from underneath strands of black hair. "How do you know about that?" he asked.

Clearly the time had come to exchange stories. Tucker explained his unlikely yet successful plan about arranging the dragon's release from Vlad's basement. Sam then asked Danny whether he was comfortable with her telling Tucker about what had transpired in the dragon's lair, and Danny gave his permission with a half-hearted wave of the hand.

"Wow, man, that's pretty heavy," remarked Tucker. By this time he and Sam had joined Danny on the floor. "Are you ok?"

"Do I look ok?" snapped Danny.

"Whoa," said Tucker, slightly taken aback. "Sorry."

"You look terrible," said Sam. "What the hell happened to you after I'd gone?"

Danny shrugged. "Vlad happened to me." His voice betrayed no emotion. "I couldn't go ghost. I don't know what it was… I just didn't want to. After what happened in there… I don't think I can do this anymore, guys."

Tucker opened his mouth to protest, but Sam silenced him with a severe look.

"Did you hear what I said back there?" she asked. "It wasn't your fault."

"I'm not good enough," Danny said simply.

"You're getting better all the time."

"I killed Paulina."

"She's not dead."

Danny shook his head. "I killed her, Sam. Vlad saved her. How twisted is that?"

Sam didn't know what to say. The trio sat in silence for a while, until at last Sam grabbed Danny's hand and said, "Thank you for saving me."

Danny managed a small smile. "You didn't really think I'd choose Paulina over you, did you?"

Sam smiled back. "I guess not."

"Hey," Tucker interrupted. "I hate to break up this little moment you two are having, but we got a problem. Well, Danny, _you_ got a problem. How are you gonna explain the state you're in to your parents? They'll probably think you snuck out in the middle of the night and got beaten up by a bunch of Chavs or something."

"Don't worry," Sam said confidently, jumping to her feet. "I'll nip home and get some makeup. We'll cover up those bumps and bruises _and_ have you looking so sick your parents won't make you go to school tomorrow."

"Ugh, school tomorrow," groaned Tucker.

Danny also rose to his feet, a lot more slowly than Sam had done, inhibited both by his injuries and his depleted spirits. "I'll fly you there," he said.

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure?"

"I don't want to," said Danny, "but it'll be ten times quicker."

Sam was only slightly concerned about Danny's reluctance to use his powers. She was confident that he would change his mind soon enough, and even if he did need her and Tucker's help, that could wait until the next ghost attack. She clasped her arms tightly around Danny's waist, and he draped an arm around her shoulders.

"Want a lift home, Tuck?" asked Danny, as he prepared to go ghost. The long sit-down had allowed him to recharge his energy.

"Sure, thanks." Tucker yawned ostentatiously. "I'd like to try and get _some_ sleep tonight, if it's all the same to you."

x x x

Sam's practised use of Goth makeup made Danny look pretty sick, and besides this Maddie could tell that her son wasn't his usual energetic self. It was a Friday; Danny took the day off school, and then spent most of Saturday moping around in his room. Sam called him in the afternoon and tried to persuade him to go out with her and Tucker that evening.

"I don't think so," was Danny's reply.

"You're not going to turn into some sort of agoraphobic, are you?" asked Sam.

"No," said Danny, acutely aware of just how much he didn't want to go out. "Look, I'll tell you what: I'll meet you guys at Nasty Burger tomorrow and we can talk about my ost-gay owers-pay."

"What do you mean?"

"Well that _is_ why you're so eager to see me, isn't it? To persuade me not to give up and stuff like that?"

"Honestly, Danny, we're your friends," and she hung up.

In spite of this little exchange, however, Sam's frosty feelings towards Danny did not last long, and the meeting at Nasty Burger went ahead.

"How are you feeling?" asked Tucker.

"Better," said Danny. "Much better. You know, I'm beginning to wonder about Vlad. Do you think that dragon… you know… _did_ anything to him?"

Sam shrugged, and bit a large chunk out of her burger. "He pwobwy juff deffided to leave you awone affer what you fed," she garbled, spraying Danny with burger bun crumbs as she spoke.

"Maybe." Danny sounded dubious. "But I would have thought he'd at least check up on me. Oh no!" This as he started to spew thin trails of visible blue breath. "If it's anything _really_ nasty I suppose I'm going to have to - "

"HEEEEELP!"

Danny ran to the door, and immediately saw that Paulina was being menaced by a large salivating green wolf. He then ran to the restroom, transformed into Danny Phantom and flew through the roof, thermos at the ready.

"Oh, it's you!" As soon as Paulina caught sight of him, she seemed to forget that she was being attacked by a vicious animalistic ghost. "I don't need help from the likes of you, Inviso-Bill!"

Seeing that the wolf was seemingly about to slice Paulina into three or four pieces with its large claws, Danny opened up the thermos and sucked the beast inside.

Paulina looked furious. "I could have handled it!"

Danny landed beside her. "Look, Paulina…" he began awkwardly. "About the other night…"

"The other night!" fumed Paulina. "What the hell came over you the other night? Why in Giorgio Armani's name would you choose a nobody like her over _me_?"

Danny cut a glance at Nasty Burger, and saw that Sam was watching him from the doorway. "Her life isn't worth any less than yours, you know," he said.

"Huh," muttered Paulina, and for a moment she looked about to argue. However she simply said, "Is it worth more?"

"Of course not," Danny said weakly.

"Why, Inviso-Bill?" She no longer seemed angry, but deeply hurt. "I thought we had something special! I thought you liked me!"

"I did! I… I mean, I do… I… I…" He gave up. "Look… I really am sorry about the other night. Are you ok?"

"Like you care," snapped Paulina. "You didn't even come to check up on me."

"I thought you wouldn't want to see me."

"You thought right, creep. Leave me alone."

Paulina turned on her heel, making a point of flicking her shampoo commercial hair, and flounced off down the street. Danny sighed, taking a few moments to watch her go, and then went to join Sam in the doorway of Nasty Burger.

"Looks like you lost your girl," Sam said dryly.

"I deserved it," said Danny. "I really messed her around, didn't I?"

Sam nodded. "Yee-up."

"I feel really guilty. I've been such a jerk."

"Yeah."

Danny scowled. "You're not helping."

"You only said it to be contradicted," retorted Sam. "And I refuse to indulge you, because you _have_ been a jerk. But don't sweat it. Everybody's a jerk sometimes."

"I guess," said Danny.

"And at least you weren't a jerk on purpose, like some people."

"Vlad."

"Well, I was thinking of Dash, but yeah. So…"

Danny looked at her expectantly.

"Does this mean Danny Phantom's back?"

Danny sighed deeply. "I guess he'll have to be," he said, not sounding at all sure of himself, but in his heart he knew what had to be done. "I mean, I can't go around letting innocent people get killed by ghost wolves and stuff."

"No," agreed Sam, slightly concerned about the lapse in her friend's confidence and hoping it would pass. "That would be a _really_ jerky thing to do."

"I'd better go to the restroom and get changed."

Sam smiled. "We'll be waiting."

THE END


End file.
